


Hearth and Home

by Anchestor



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Background Grillster, Dad Grillby, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Veteran Grillby, mild PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 20:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15693090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anchestor/pseuds/Anchestor
Summary: “Are you my daddy?”Grillby’s flame flickered through many colours, pink, light blue, green, until it settled into a low red.“Sorry, Fuku”, he said, gently petting her head. “But it takes a lot more to be someone’s father than just being like them.”~It was an accident. A few books about centuries old magic, a couple of students who didn't know any better. And now, an elemental has been summoned, a little girl of green flame named Fuku. The first elemental to be summoned since the war.She is placed in the care of Grillby, just until a more permanent home can be found for her. After all, a fire elemental would be the best option to take care of a fire elemental, right?Right?





	Hearth and Home

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: The lovely [Aeris-Blue](https://aeris-blue.tumblr.com/post/180158935155/anchestor-is-celebrating-100-followers-seemed) drew this amazing fic cover!
> 
>  

The voices outside her hiding place kept talking. She curled further into a ball and whimpered. She was never coming out, never, never, _never!_

She didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t remember anything. There had been a black nothing, and a brief, comforting fire. Then the screaming and the shouting started, loud! Panicked! And she was scared, scared, _scared!_ There were people, they were all  _big_ and _scary_ and screaming! Shouting at her!

She had screamed and cried, and then they tried to grab her, grab her arm, and she wanted it all to stop, stop! She was scared!

They had screamed more as she burned them, but it made them let go. And then she ran, she hid, hid away from the big scary people! There was a little square-shaped hole in the wall, and inside it a tunnel with metal walls that banged and echoed as she crawled inside. At the end of the tunnel there was a grid, and she had tried to push it away, break it and hide further, away from the big scary people but she couldn’t! Couldn’t!

So she had curled into a ball and put her hands over her ears as they tried to lure her out, reaching at her with their hands, too big to come after her. She closed her eyes and wished, wished they’d go away, go away and leave her alone!

Eventually, they stopped trying to get her. They talked among themselves, mumbled words she blocked out. Eventually some of them left, or at least she couldn’t hear them anymore.

 

And after a long, long time there was the sound of the door opening and closing, and talking, and steps.

Then it was quiet.

All quiet, except for a soft hum and crackle.

She peeked from behind her hands. There was someone looking into her tunnel. Someone new, orange and yellow flames softly flickering.

“Ahem. Hello”, he said. His voice was calm and steady and not at all screaming. It crackled a bit, like he crackled.

Like she crackled.

“…Won’t you come out of the ventilation shaft?”

“No!” She curled back into her ball. Out was scary! Here she was safe, here nobody would grab her and scream at her!

“…Okay then.”

He disappeared from the mouth of the tunnel.

…Where did he go?

After a while, she got too curious. She unfurled, and began to slowly crawl towards the mouth of the ventilation shaft, trying not to bang the metal, it made a lot of sound.

She peeked into the room, still hidden in the safety of the ventilation shaft.

There were the circles and complex symbols of white chalk on the floor, and soot and charring too. Knocked over chairs, stray bottles, some boxes. _He_ was sitting cross-legged, leaning against a wall, hands resting in his lap. He was holding something white, idly turning the clutch of fabric in his fingers.

He was big, like the others were. But he was quiet. He wasn’t as scary.

He turned to look at her, and she flinched, backing into the tunnel.

He didn’t move. He didn’t come to try to grab her and drag her out of her hiding place.

“…You can stay there, if you want.” He turned his face away, looking off somewhere in front of him. “But it looks a bit uncomfortable.”

She listened.

“You must have been pretty spooked by your summoning. Not that I’m surprised, a summoning can be pretty scary. You didn’t burn anyone badly, though. If you were worried. So, you’re not in trouble, or anything.”

He sounded calm. Comforting.

She slowly crawled completely out of the ventilation shaft, and stood up. She stayed near the entrance, though. It felt safe. She knew she could hide again if he tried to grab her.

He turned to look at her again, staying sitting where he was.

“Hello.”

“Hi”, she answered. She held her hands in front of herself protectively, rocking her weight from the balls of her feet to her heels and back.

“My name is Grillby”, he said.

“…I don’t have a name”, she said after a while.

He gave an odd smile.

“I guess you don’t. Here, I brought you something to wear.” He lifted his hand, offering the clutch of white fabric to her.

Slowly, unsurely, she stepped toward Grillby. She walked only near enough to take the white thing.

It was a shirt. She pushed her hands into the sleeves, but it was obvious that the shirt was much too big. It might have fit Grillby, but on her most of the fabric just hung loosely over her small frame, reaching all the way to her ankles. The front was open. She fiddled with the tiny buttons that lined the fabric, not quite able to push them through the holes.

 “Umm.”

He tilted his head.

“Don’t you know how to button it up?”

She shook her head.

“You really _are_ just a child.” He sounded disbelieving. Then, almost disturbed: “A _child_.”

He shook his head, as if to chase whatever he was thinking away.

“It- it doesn’t matter just now. Let’s just get you dressed first, okay? Here, I’ll help-”

And Grillby buttoned up the buttons, one by one. He also rolled the sleeves up so that she could use her hands.

She decided that it was better now. She didn’t feel as exposed or vulnerable now that she was wearing the shirt.

She looked at her hands poking out of the white sleeves, coated with a bright green flame. Grillby had a white shirt too. And his hands were coated with flame, too, but his was orange and yellow.

She looked up at Grillby.

“You’re like me.”

“Yes.”

“But _big_.”

“Yes.”

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing at Grillby’s face.

“…My glasses?” He raised his hand, grazing the rims of his glasses with his fingertips.

“Uh-huh!”

“Well, they- they’re my glasses. They help me see.” He took them off. “Do you want to take a look?”

He handed her the glasses, and she placed them over her eyes, like Grillby had had them. And all of a sudden the world was all blurry! She lifted the glasses, and everything was sharp again! On, off, on, off, blurry, sharp, blurry, sharp!

She giggled. Grillby smiled, then took the glasses back.

There was a knock on the door. She gasped, glancing back at her hiding place.

“Hey, it’s okay”, Grillby said, standing up. “It’s just the guard.”

“How’s it going in there?” a new voice whispered as the door opened just a crack.

“We’re doing just fine. She was spooked, that’s all”, Grillby answered.

She quickly circled around Grillby, hiding behind his legs, grabbing the fabric of his pants. Someone new! Would he scream at her too, or grab her?

The door opened completely. The new person was a big rabbit, wearing something big, bulky, shiny.

“So, they told me to escort you to the King’s house?” He was fidgeting nervously.

Grillby nodded, and began walking to the door.

“Come now, little flame.” He smiled encouragingly. “Let’s go meet Asgore.”

 

The three of them walked down the corridor. She stuck close to Grillby. There were a lot of doors, and potted plants, all sorts of things for her to look at. A few times Grillby would tell the rabbit to slow down so that she could keep up without having to run.

Eventually they came to a different looking door, the other ones had been white, and this was bigger and grey. The rabbit opened the door, and behind it was an enormous cavern, with orange walkways and red-hot magma!

“Wait”, Grillby said, stopping by the door.

“What?” The rabbit turned to look what the holdup was.

“She doesn’t have any shoes. The volcanic rock isn’t exactly smooth beneath the feet.”

The rabbit groaned.

“Guess I’ll just have to-” he said, stepping back and reaching _to grab her-!_

She screamed, stumbling back.

“Hey!” Grillby had gripped the rabbit’s wrist. “Don’t scare her like that! She’s a child, not a badger!”

Grillby knelt down, so that he was eye-level with her.

“Is it okay if one of us carries you?”

“You.” She clutched the fabric of his shirt, scuttling behind Grillby, away from the big rabbit.

“I- alright.” Grillby took a breath. “I’m going to pick you up now, okay?”

He carefully lifted her up. She wrapped her arms around Grillby’s neck so that she wouldn’t fall.

Then they walked again, and she was gently rocked along Grillby’s steps.

The others were all big. They were screamy and grabby and scary. Except Grillby. Grillby was quiet and calm. Grillby was like her. Grillby was _safe_.

She rested her head against Grillby’s chest. This was okay.

 

 

 

Eventually they came to a big grey house. The rabbit left them by the door, and Grillby adjusted his hold on her and knocked. The door opened, and he was big, big! Even bigger than everyone else! He was white and golden and dressed in purple and he was so big! And fluffy!

“Howdy! Come on in”, he said. His voice was deep and not-screamy, but not as calm as Grillby.

Once inside, Grillby put her down on the grey wooden floor. She was a little upset, Grillby was warm and safe and now she felt so small again!

The big fluffy one kneeled down, but he was still too big.

“You’re the new summon then. Nice to meet you! I’m king Asgore”, he said, reaching his big paw forward.

She ran off and hid behind Grillby’s legs, peeking at Asgore from behind their safety.

“Um”, Asgore said, paw still reached out.

“Hey, it’s alright, little flame”, Grillby said softly. “He just wanted to shake hands.”

She shook her head.

“No? You don’t want to?”

She nodded.

“Alright then.” Grillby looked pointedly at Asgore. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“They really _did_ summon a child”, Asgore said slowly, with the same disbelief Grillby had had.

Grillby nodded.

Asgore stood up. “This… will complicate matters.”

“Yeah.”

“Well. Everyone else is already in the kitchen. We can begin discussions.”

They were led to the kitchen. She stopped by the doorway. They were there! There, sitting at the table! The screamy, grabby people! She whined, and backed behind the doorframe.

Grillby noticed that she wasn’t following them anymore, and turned to look at her.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I’m scared”, she said, pointing at the screamy, grabby people.

Grillby kneeled, so that they were on eye level again.

“You’re scared of the people who summoned you?”

She nodded. “They tried to grab me. And screamed at me.” She felt a lump in her throat, something pricking at the corners of her eyes. Why was everything scary!

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay”, Grillby said. “It’s okay. No one is going to hurt you. Or grab you or scream at you. They were just spooked, like you were.”

“…They were spooked?” she repeated.

“Yes. But they are much calmer now. It’s all right, see?” He nodded toward the table.

She looked at them. They were all sitting and not running around. They were all quiet. One, a black cat, was staring blankly into nothingness, two were fidgeting, both of them lizards.

…And Grillby was here too. Grillby would protect her, she decided. But she’d keep her guard up!

 

They sat at the table. It was hard for her to climb on the chair, and even then the table was so high she could easily rest her chin on it. So she did, and swung her feet under the table, since they didn’t reach the floor.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Grillby. I’m sorry to drag you away from your bar, but few monsters know even adequately about fire elementals”, Asgore said.

Grillby shrugged. “It wasn’t the rush hour or anything.”

“What’s a bar?” she asked.

“It’s where I work. It’s a place where I cook food for people, and make them drinks”, Grillby answered quickly.

“I suppose we should begin at the beginning”, Asgore said.

“Yeah. I’d _really_ like to know what the thought process was when you three decided to try to summon an elemental”, Grillby said, something hostile in his voice.

“We didn’t know what it was!” one of the lizards cried out. The two lizards tried to clamour over each other as they spoke in panicky tones.

“We found the book in the uni library-”

“We didn’t know what it was, the language was _ancient_ -”

“We were just having fun! They’re such a cryptology nerd, they wanted to figure out what it said-”

“Even the letters were all wonky-”

“We were just boozing, having a few laughs-”

“They said it was a fire thing, and we were cold- mammal-type monsters have _no idea_ -”

“We were just-”

“We thought it was some old fire magic!”

“OH MY GOD I’m not ready for kids!!” the other lizard cried out, voice climbing a pitch. “We’ll have to drop out, and get a house together, and jobs-”

“I don’t want to get a house with you two. Can’t I just pay child support?” the cat spoke up.

“NO! We’re ALL in this together! You translated the text-”

“YOU wanted to try some random fire magic-!”

“ _Enough._ ” Asgore’s voice cut through the noise, and the room went silent.

“We’re sorry”, the lizard said quietly, a lump in his throat. “We didn’t mean to.”

“I can see that. And while your actions will have repercussions, I don’t think making three students care for a small child is the best solution for anyone.” Asgore turned to look at her.

“Which of course leaves the matter of what will happen with-” Asgore paused, and blinked. “I realize that she doesn’t have a name.”

The cat grimaced. “Should we name her, or-?” they asked unsurely, gesturing to themselves and the two others.

Asgore closed his eyes.

“As I recall”, he began slowly, “during the war, elementals were called by their season of summoning and element. So that would make her Autumnfire-”

“ _You are not naming her after her serial number_.” Grillby’s voice was an _angry growl_ , his flame blazing streaks of hot reds and whites.

The lizards jumped, and even Asgore looked shocked. She looked at him, a jolt of fear going through her, even if Grillby was angry with someone else.

“Of course. I’m sorry, I know I’m terrible at names”, Asgore placated, and Grillby’s warm oranges and yellows returned, though his flame remained a little hotter than before.

“But what should she be called then?” one of the lizards asked.

Grillby turned to look at her.

“What would you like to be called?”

She thought about the question. What should she be called? She was…

She was little, and green, and she was like Grillby, that much she knew. But Grillby was already called Grillby. What else was Grillby? Grillby was calm and safe (despite being able to be scary). Grillby had a bar, and a bar was a place where he made drinks and cooked food for people.

Food… Cook… Those had nice sounds. What if…

“Fuku”, she said.

“Fuku”, Grillby repeated, tasting the word. Then he smiled. “That is a good name.”

She grinned, swinging her legs back and forth under the table. Fuku. She was Fuku.

“Alright then. I believe that Fuku would find the best home for herself through adoption. Grillby, can you say if a fire elemental child would have some kind of special needs?” Asgore asked.

Fuku wondered what ‘adoption’ was.

Grillby shook his head.

“During the war, all elementals summoned were already as they were. I’ve never even heard of anyone summoning a child-”

“Oh my stars we even fucked up the summoning-”, one of the lizards muttered with wide eyes.

“ _But_ ”, Grillby continued, “As long as her caregivers have fire magic, I don’t think there will be any issues.”

Grillby paused.

“Fuku deserves a home where she’ll be loved and cared for, like any child. That’s what’s the most important”, he continued quietly.

A serious silence hung in the air.

“It will take time to find a family for her”, Asgore said.

“Where is she going to stay in the meantime?” asked one of the lizards tentatively.

“Can’t he take care of her?” the cat said, nodding towards Grillby.

Grillby sputtered and sparked in surprise.

“What? _Me?_ ”

“You’re the _expert_ on fire elementals, you ought to understand her needs. Besides, she seems to respond to you the best.” the cat stated calmly.

“That does seem like the best solution for now”, Asgore said.

“But-” Grillby glanced back and forth between Fuku and Asgore. “I have to run my bar, I can’t take care of a child- I don’t even know _how_ I’d be supposed to care for a child-!”

“I’m sure Gaster will be more than happy to lend you a hand.” Asgore smiled encouragingly. “Besides, it’s only for a little while.”

“ _But-_ ”

Fuku tilted her head.

“Don’t you want me?” Why didn’t Grillby want her? Had she been bad?

She flickered low hues, her lower lip quivering.

Grillby turned to look at Fuku, panicky flashes of white and blue in his flame.

“No, no, it’s not that I-” Grillby stopped, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

“Alright. I’ll- I’ll look after her. Just until you can find her an actual home.”

 

And with that, the conversation seemed to be mostly over. Soon everyone was being ushered to the door, and Grillby picked Fuku up to carry her again. They travelled through stairs and walkways and elevators, until they came to a dark blue river. On the river there was a small brown boat, and a mysterious, cloaked person on it.

Grillby boarded the boat, and asked to be taken to a place called Snowdin. And then they were off, careering over the river as Grillby made sure Fuku stayed in the middle of the boat, away from the water.

“Tra la la. The most obvious answer is not always the right one”, their ferryman sang.

“Tra la la”, Fuku sang along.

When they stepped off the boat, Grillby picking her up again, they were someplace that looked entirely different! Everything was white, and sparkly! There were big green trees, and the air felt cool to her skin.

“Pretty!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, real pretty”, Grillby agreed absentmindedly.

Then they came to a house, and Grillby had to manoeuvre her in his arms to reach his keys. Once inside she was finally placed on the floor so that she could walk around by herself.

After taking his shoes off Grillby took intent steps to the living room, going straight to the couch. Fuku followed after him, and watched in amazement as Grillby pulled the couch open with practiced ease, and after some shuffling around it transformed into a twin bed. It already had sheets on, and they had a fun car pattern on it. Grillby put a blanket with rockets, stars and planets on it and a pillow that matched on the bed. Lastly, Grillby went somewhere and brought her new clothes. They were too big, but not as big as the button up had been: the bone-patterned t-shirt hang loosely over her body, the sleeves reaching her elbows, and the pant legs needed to be rolled up, but the clothes didn’t tent over her like the button up had.

“Alright. It’s been a long day for the both of us”, Grillby said, ushering Fuku to the bed and tucking her in.

“Goodnight”, he said, turning the lights off as he left the room.

 

And Fuku was left alone in the dark room, only her own green flame illuminating her surroundings. A clock ticked loudly on the wall. The shadows were big, and they moved as she flickered. Everything was so strange.

It was scary.

She whimpered. She wanted Grillby! Grillby was safe!

She crawled out of the bed, and padded to the room where Grillby had disappeared to. That room wasn’t as dark, only dim as Grillby’s flame painted the walls soft hues of orange.

She climbed on the bed where Grillby laid. He stirred, rolling on his side to look at her. Grillby looked different. His fire was burning low, and his glasses were gone.

“Fuku? What are you doing here? This is my bed.”

She sat on the cover.

“I’m scared.”

“Fuku… It’s just the living room. There is nothing to be scared about.”

She shook her head.

“It’s scary!”

Grillby sighed.

“Alright. You can sleep here if you want.”

And Fuku crawled under the covers with Grillby, who closed his eyes and rolled back to his side again, his back to her.

Fuku yawned. She felt sleepy. The house was strange and scary, but Grillby was there, and Grillby was safe.

This was okay.

She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

 

 

 

Fuku woke up to light creeping through the windows. She sat up on the bed. Grillby was still fast asleep, his back towards her.

“Grillby.” She crawled over to him, and shook his shoulder.

Grillby groaned.

“ _Grillby_ ”, She said more insistently, shaking him harder.

“Alright, alright, I’m awake”, Grillby mumbled, finally rolling on his back and pushing himself up. He fumbled for his glasses on the nightstand.

“I’m hungry”, Fuku said.

Grillby glanced at his alarm clock, and sighed deeply.

“Of course you are”, he said, his voice still groggy.

They went to the kitchen. Grillby’s kitchen was very big, and it had all sorts of shiny kettles and pans and things! Grillby moved around the room swiftly, sometimes shooing her from his path as she looked around. The coffee machine went _drip-drip-drip_ , the toaster went  _ding!_ and the hot pan spat and sizzled when Grillby cracked eggs into it.

Then they ate breakfast. Grillby had coffee that smelled bitter, she had juice that was really good, and they both had toast that was okay, and eggs that were gross! She had barely had a forkful of the eggs when she made a face and spat it out!

Grillby looked up from his coffee.

“Fuku? Something wrong with your eggs?”

“They’re yucky!”

Grillby sighed.

“You need to eat your eggs. If you don’t, you’ll be hungry later.”

“No!” she said, shoving her plate away.

“…Alright.” Grillby sipped his coffee. “If you don’t want to, I won’t make you.”

She smiled to herself. Victory! No gross eggs!

Grillby fiddled with his phone, glancing between it and the clock on the wall. Finally he pressed some buttons and brought the device to his ear.

“Morning. Did I wake you?” he said.

There was a pause, and Grillby grimaced.

“Sorry”, he said. “But, uh, I’ve got some pretty big news. Also I need a favour.”

“No, no, nothing bad happened! It’s, it’s all good.”

“Who are you talking to?” Fuku asked.

Grillby shushed her.

“Fuku, I’m on the phone- Okay, the very short version is that I have a kid staying over at my place-”

There was suddenly a lot of muffled noise from the receiver, and Grillby held the phone a bit further away from his head.

“Well now you know how I felt when you called me in the middle of the night all ‘I accidentally made two babies in my lab’”, Grillby deadpanned.

“Listen, I’d much rather explain this face to face. You think I could borrow some stuff? Books and some toys?”

Grillby eyed Fuku with a furrowed brow.

“She’s about… kindergarten age? I don’t know. Little.”

“Yeah, sounds great”, he said, face melting to relief.

“Thanks. See you then.” Grillby hung up the phone.

“Who were you talking to?” Fuku asked again.

“Gaster, he’s my boyfriend”, Grillby said, standing up and starting to gather the dishes.

“And now that that’s taken care of, I think you’ll need some clothes of your own.”

 

Fuku decided that she liked being carried by Grillby. She was so high! She could see so far! Even if she couldn’t explore the snow. But Grillby had promised she could once she had proper mittens and boots.

So Grillby trekked through the snow, past the houses and a big, big tree. They entered a building, and a little bell rang as the door opened.

Fuku was placed on the floor. The room had a lot of stuff! Food, clothes, all sorts of things!

“Good morning, Grillby!” came a voice from somewhere. She turned to look, and there was a big purple rabbit! With a hat and a shiny necklace! “You’re out and about early- Oh? Who’s this?”

The rabbit walked around the counter, and strode towards them! Fuku quickly hid behind Grillby’ legs.

“Morning, Bonnie.” Grillby greeted. “Fuku, it’s alright. Bonnie is very nice” he continued reassuringly.

Fuku peeked from behind her hiding place.

“Hello! Fuku, huh? Well aren’t you a lovely little lady! Don’t you wanna say hi?”

Fuku shuffled in place.

“Hi”, she said timidly.

Bonnie smiled, a big smile.

“A little shy, huh? Grillby, is she your niece or something?”

“Uh, yeah. Something like that”, Grillby said, a little awkward. “Could you help us pick out some clothes for her?”

 

Turned out that Fuku didn’t like clothes shopping, not at all! Grillby constantly asked what she wanted, and she didn’t know! There were so many options! And when she did find something she liked, Grillby said that she didn’t need it! There were so many pretty shiny dresses, and Grillby said she only needed one! But then he said that she needed a lot of boring socks! Clothes were stupid!

Eventually she told Grillby that she didn’t care about the stupid socks, and walked off. Grillby was about to say something, but Bonnie intervened, saying something in low tones.

Having left Grillby to figure out the stupid socks by himself, Fuku walked around the store, weaving between the shelves of shiny bottles and mysterious boxes.

She stopped. There was a rack, a tall rack, and it was filled with all sorts of toys. Teddy bears with bow ties, button-eyed bunnies, dolls, all kinds of plush animals!

Her eyes went wide. There, between the teddies and bunnies was something. It was a silvery grey colour, with beady black eyes, looking back at her, and it was _amazing_. It was so pretty and cute and cool and soft and nice and _she had to show it to Grillby now!_

She grabbed it and ran, ran back to Grillby!

Grillby was talking with Bonnie, probably about stupid socks.

“Grillby!” she said intently, pulling his pant leg, the plush under her arm.

“Fuku, I’m talking with Bonnie, it’s rude to interrupt-”

“ _Grillby look!_ ” She showed Grillby the plush. “Look! Look!”

“…A dolphin? Uh. That’s nice.” Grillby turned toward Bonnie again.

“Grillby!” Fuku whined. Why wasn’t he listening to her!?

Grillby sighed.

“Do you want that dolphin?”

Fuku nodded firmly.

“Okay, we’ll get it for you.”

“Yay!” she squealed with delight, jumping up and down as she hugged the dolphin tightly.

 

Eventually Grillby said they were done. Good. She was tired and hungry. Grillby brought all the clothes to the register, and Fuku carried her dolphin.

“I’m hungry”, Fuku whined.

“Yes, because you didn’t eat your eggs in the morning.” Grillby didn’t even look at her!

“I’m hungry!”

“You can have a sandwich when we get home.”

Grillby wasn’t listening to her! She was hungry and tired and her feet hurt and the store was too big and had too much stuff and _Grillby wasn’t even listening to her-!_

Fuku threw her head back and wailed. She stomped her feet and clutched her dolphin and wailed and cried, as loud as she could.

“ _Grillby!_ ”

Grillby was looking at her, nervous flickers in his flame, moving his hands helplessly.

“I- shh, shh, please stop crying-” and he was down, trying to pick her up. She didn’t want to be picked up! She wailed even louder and ran off, ran between the shelves and hid in a corner and cried.

There she sat, curled in a ball, clutching her dolphin. Grillby was stupid! Everything was stupid!

And then there was Grillby, a sort of helpless look on his face, flickering comforting yellows and oranges. Carefully, he picked her up, and she sobbed into his shirt.

“Shh, Fuku. It’s okay. We’re going back home now.”

And Grillby carried her off.

 

Fuku was sitting on the living room floor, playing with her dolphin. When they had gotten back from the store, Grillby had made her a sandwich and then put her down for a nap, and now she felt much better!

And now she was wearing her new clothes that were just the right size, and she had her dolphin. Grillby was on the couch, leafing through a magazine.

Fuku tossed her dolphin high in the air, and caught it. Then she threw it again, high, high!

“Grillby! Look!” Fuku threw the plush up with all her might, and it bumped against the ceiling with a thud.

“Careful”, Grillby warned.

Fuku giggled. Grillby put the magazine away.

“Have you thought about naming your dolphin?” he asked.

Fuku turned the dolphin so that it was facing her, and looked deep into its beady black eyes.

“Dora.”

“Dora the dolphin?”

Fuku nodded. She brought Dora to her face, and nuzzled its soft fabric. Dora was her dolphin, and the best dolphin ever!

“You know, I think I have a book that might interest you”, Grillby got up, and walked to the bookshelf. He pulled out a big, big book, and leafed through its pages until he found what he was looking for.

“Here”, Grillby placed the book on the floor in front of Fuku, and sat next to her.

She gasped. On the spread there was a big, pretty picture of a bunch of dolphins, swimming in the blue water. There were other creatures too!

“Pretty!”

“Yeah, isn’t it? Those are whales, they are very big. And that’s an octopus”, Grillby explained, pointing out the creatures.

“How big are whales?”

“So big. Bigger that you can even think. There’s a lot of room to grow in the ocean”, Grillby said.

“I wanna see how big whales are! Can we go visit them in the ocean?” Fuku asked, excited. “I wanna to see dolphins too!”

Grillby’s face dropped.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t”, Grillby said. His flame lost some of its brightness, burning more red-orange than yellow-orange now. “The ocean is on the other side of the Barrier. And even if we could go there, you couldn’t touch the water, it hurts.”

Now Fuku felt sad too.

“But I wanna see whales and dolphins!”

“Sorry, Fuku. For now you have to make do with Dora and the pictures.”

Grillby turned the page. Now there was an illustration of a lot of small fish, all swimming together. In the corner there were two fish by a rock formation, and a whole bunch of little baby fish.

Fuku looked at the fish family. Grillby’s big orange hand was leaning on the floor next to the book. Her little green hand was on her lap.

“Grillby? Are there others like you and me?”

Grillby was silent.

“There are a few who are similar to us. But they aren’t made out of fire like we are.” Grillby paused. “There were others, who were like us. But that was- …before the Barrier.”

Fuku turned to look at Grillby. He was looking off somewhere in the distance, his flame was almost a low red now. He looked tired.

“What happened to them?”

Grillby blinked, and shook his head, coaxing his fire back to a more orange colour.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older”, he said, and closed the book.

 

Fuku was lying on the floor drawing when the doorbell rang. Grillby put his book away, got up from the couch and went to open the door. Fuku scrambled to her feet, following him. Grillby had said that they’d have visitors that day, and two of them would be other children for her to play with!

Fuku peeked into the hallway from the doorway as Grillby opened the door.

The first one to come in was very tall and very thin and looked a little scary. He had a big bag on his shoulder; it made a heavy _thud_ as he put it on the floor.

“Hello, darling”, he said, smiling at Grillby.

“Hi.” Grillby was flickering happy yellows, and the other gave Grillby a quick kiss.

“GROOOOSS!” whined a loud voice. The next one to come in was little, like her! But not nearly as little, he was much bigger than her. Next to him was another one, all round shapes, smaller than the loud one but still much bigger than her.

The three of them put their coats and shoes away with that sort of practiced movements, like they had done it a million times before and knew where everything should be put.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Grillby sounded relieved.

“I’m glad to finally meet your little mystery guest”, the big one said.

Grillby turned to look towards her, flame shifting through warm, encouraging colours.

“Fuku, won’t you come and say hello?”

She carefully, slowly padded into the hallway, hands gripping the hem of her shirt. She rocked her weight to the balls of her feet and back.

The eyes of the big one went wide, and he brought a hand to his mouth.

“Oh my _God_ ”, he muttered. “Grillby, what on earth _happened?_ God…”

“HELLO!” the loud one greeted cheerfully. “I’M PAPYRUS, AND THIS IS MY BROTHER SANS!”

“heya”, the round one said.

“Hi”, she answered shyly.

“Yes, hello”, the big one said, shaking himself from his stupor. “I’m Gaster. Nice to meet you. Ahem. Boys, Grillby and I need to have a word. Why don’t you and Fuku go play in the living room?”

“what are we even supposed to do? she’s, like, a baby”, Sans grumbled.

“Sans, be nice. There are some building blocks in the bag, those are fun for all ages.”

So Fuku and the two boys were left in the living room with some colourful wooden building blocks as Grillby and Gaster disappeared into the kitchen.

 

 

The door clicked shut behind them as Grillby closed the kitchen door.

“Tea?” Grillby asked.

“Sure.” Gaster sat down at the table, letting out a long breath of air.

“You could have given me a little more warning, Grillby”, Gaster said, the shock in his voice not completely gone yet.

“Sorry.” Grillby looked sheepish as he filled the kettle. “I can barely wrap my head around it myself… There’s been a lot going on.”

“Clearly”, Gaster said in a clipped tone. “What on earth happened?”

Grillby sighed, warming the kettle in his hands. Gaster fetched cups and spoons from the cupboard, as well as Grillby’s tea box.

“Some students found an old summoning book, didn’t know what it was and decided to try it out. Once they figured out that she was an elemental, one of the guards came to get me for help. She had hidden in a ventilation shaft and wouldn’t come out, and everyone else was scared she’d burn them. The students were downright panicking. I managed to talk her out of there, and, well, Asgore made me look after her until there’s a more permanent home for her.”

The water boiled, and Grillby poured.

“I guess the idea was that a fire elemental would know best how to take care of a fire elemental.”

Gaster had already picked out his tea, and was now stirring the bag in the hot water to get the flavour out. Grillby rifled through the tea box. Golden flower, rooibos, lemon… No, this felt more like a blackcurrant kind of day.

“…How are you holding up?” Gaster asked quietly. “You’re burning a little low.”

“I don’t know.” Grillby took a sip of his tea.

“I guess… I do like her. Fuku is a good kid. But a part of me is expecting for me to wake up any minute now. One part is angry. This wasn’t supposed to happen, and it seems so unfair that now she’s just here, on her own. And then again, everyone seems to just… think that Fuku is no different from any other kid that just popped out of nowhere. And I’m glad for it, but also… I don’t know. A little bitter. Everyone is ignoring what being an elemental _meant_ during the war.”

Gaster held his cup in his hands, letting the tea warm the bone.

“I don’t think people really remember anymore. Most of who were there have fallen down already. There’s me, you, Asgore, Gerson… and that’s pretty much it. The war is something that happened to other people, a long, long time ago.”

“Still. It’s… it’s hard to look at her and not remember. Not to think of-” Grillby looked at his reflection in the tea. Blackcurrant gave such a dark shade, mirroring his flame easily.

“She burns the same green as Springblaze did.”

“What…” Gaster furrowed his brow in concentration. “What were the two stone elementals called? The ones in the king’s entourage?”

“Winterstone and Winterrock. They were killed by the same mage as Summerwater, I think.”

“Who was-?”

“You never saw her”, Grillby said quickly. “I only met her once. Her unit was passing through, she came to say hi, we talked. She was killed the next morning.”

Gaster sipped his tea.

“Do you and Nixie still keep in touch?”

“Not a lot. The cold of Snowdin is about as bad for her as Waterfall is for me. We do still call each other sometimes though.”

The room became quiet, save for the spoon clinking quietly on the edges of the cup as Grillby stirred his tea.

“How long is Fuku going to stay with you?” Gaster finally asked.

Grillby shrugged.

“Could be a few weeks until Asgore finds someone to adopt her, months, even. I don’t mind as much as I thought I would, though. She’s a good kid.”

A high-pitched scream cut the air. Grillby was on his feet instantly, and already in the living room by the time Gaster had gotten up from the table.

Fuku was lying on the floor next to a fallen over chair, wailing, while Sans and Papyrus hovered by her, trying to calm her down.

Grillby scooped Fuku up in his arms, shushing her.

“What happened?” Gaster asked, hurrying out of the kitchen.

“we were playing the floor is lava, and the chair keeled over when she jumped on it”, Sans explained awkwardly.

“IS SHE OKAY?”

“She’s fine, I think she was startled more than anything”, Grillby said.

Fuku had stopped crying by now, and was starting to squirm in Grillby’s hold. He put her on the floor.

“Or are you hurt?”

Fuku shook her head.

“You should play something a little calmer. How about hide and seek?” Gaster suggested.

“What’s hide and seek?” Fuku asked.

“First, one person counts to ten, and the others go hide. Then the seeker has to find them”, Grillby said patiently.

Fuku nodded.

“I CAN BE THE FIRST SEEKER!” Papyrus put his hands over his eyes. “ONE, TWO…”

Sans ran off, Fuku quickly scuttling after him.

Soon Papyrus was off after the two, and the adults were left alone in the living room.

“You handle her pretty well”, Gaster said.

“I got lucky. Feels like I’ve been getting things right with her only about half the time”, Grillby said, sitting on the couch.

Gaster sat next to him.

“Grillby... Have you thought that… you could-?”

“No.” Grillby’s voice was firm. Then he sighed. “Gaster, I’m not cut out to be a father.”

“I don’t know about that”, Gaster said, shrugging. “You seem to do a pretty good job with the boys.”

“That’s different”, Grillby insisted. “Gaster, please don’t take this the wrong way. I do love them, but I’ve always been grateful that you never tried to call Sans and Papyrus _our_ children. It’s easy to hang out with them and… just be cool fun uncle Grillby. You’re the one who has to set the rules, establish boundaries, make sure they go to bed on time and eat their vegetables. I can just hand them over to you if I didn’t know what to do, what to say, how to comfort them…”

Grillby closed his eyes.

“I never _wanted_ children. I’ve never had this... nurturing urge that you have, or any parenting instincts, for that matter.”

Gaster mulled over Grillby’s words.

“I don’t think any parent really feels prepared for children.”

“It’s not just that”, Grillby quietly admitted. “It’s hard to look at her and not think back at the war, back at everyone who- And… Fuku deserves better than some washed up soldier.”

Grillby rested his head on Gaster’s shoulder. Gaster took Grillby's hand, and laced their fingers together.

“I’m tired”, Grillby whispered.

“…Do you want to go finish that tea?” Gaster asked quietly.

“Yeah.”

 

 

 

Things settled into a routine. Such is the nature of life.

Fuku slept on the sofa-bed. She still wouldn’t eat fried eggs, but boiled was okay, as long as she had salt with them. Grillby and her spent the mornings at home, reading, drawing, playing together.

In the evening Grillby opened his bar, bringing her with him. She sometimes wandered around the bar under Grillby’s watchful eye, but mostly stayed in the back room playing and drawing by herself, with Grillby checking on her every once in a while. It was okay. A little boring though. Fuku liked the jukebox, but the patrons were noisy. Everyone seemed to think Fuku was Grillby’s niece, and he didn’t bother to correct them. Grillby started closing the bar earlier, but it was still always late into the evening when they went home.

Grillby would fold out the sofa into a bed, and read Fuku a story from one of the picture books Gaster had borrowed them. And then they both went to sleep, and woke up the next morning to do it all over again.

Sans and Papyrus and Gaster came to visit sometimes, Fuku liked it. It was fun to have other children to play with her, even if they were much bigger than her.

Asgore came to visit once, too, and Fuku got to wear her pretty dress for that. He and Grillby talked over tea about adult things like ‘guardianship’ and ‘custody’ and she got bored and wandered off to play, and Asgore left soon after that. He phoned Grillby sometimes, but the calls were always really brief.

Fuku liked Snowdin. There was a lot to do! They visited the library, and the forest. Fuku liked to slide on the ice and play in the snow, except when she fell on her face and hurt herself. Grillby usually wasn’t that much help, he did comfort her and make sure that she was okay, but he also said that he had told her to be careful. Which he _had_ , but still!

Grillby sometimes got this distant look in his eyes. He’d be looking at Fuku, but it’d feel like he wasn’t really seeing her. Fuku didn’t really like it.

Grillby was generally very reluctant to boss her around. He did tell her what to do, when to take a nap and what to eat and such, but he never made her if she didn’t want to. Fuku did often get cranky afterwards becauseshe was tired because she hadn’t napped or hungry because she hadn’t eaten.

But Grillby never, ever made her if she didn’t want to.

 

 

Fuku was venturing through the house. Sans and Papyrus and Gaster would come visit tomorrow, and when they played hide and seek, she’d have the best hiding places already picked out! It was very smart of her to be prepared like that, she thought. And she was small, she’d fit in so many hiding places! She’d win for sure!

The kitchen had many cupboards, but they were all full of kitchenware. The bathroom was good, Grillby kept a lot of boxes there, she could hide behind them! There was the hallway closet, and she could crawl under the couch of the living room.

What about Grillby’s room?

She padded her way upstairs. Grillby’s room was big. The bed was big too, and it had a lot of room to hide under! The closet was also big. There Fuku found a big bow tie rack, and Grillby’s fancy shirts, all hanging in neat rows.

What was that in the back? Behind the shirts?

Fuku walked into the closet, pushing the clothes away from her path. Whatever it was, it was long and thin and shiny. She wrapped her fingers around it, and pulled it out into the light.

It was a sword, like the knights had in one of the picture books Grillby had read to her. It was heavy, too heavy for her even to lift it! And so long, longer than herself, counting the tip of the flame on her head! The grip was brown leather, as was the thing where the sharp part was kept, Fuku didn’t know what it was called. She pulled the sword out of the holding thing, which fell on the floor with a _THUD_. The sharp part was polished and shiny, reflecting her green fire. The edges had little nicks and bumps, and she wondered how hard the metal had been hit to leave marks like that, wasn’t metal supposed to be strong?

“Fuku? Are you in here?” came Grillby’s voice, muffled by the door.

“Yeah!” she answered, turning the sword around, making it sound a loud _CLANG_.

The door opened

“What are you-”

Grillby froze in the doorway. His flame was flickering sporadically as his fire dropped into a sick green. Then, whites.

“ _Fuku, drop that immediately._ ” Grillby’s voice was _angry_.

“I just-”

“Doesn’t  _matter_. Now _take your hands off of that_.” Grillby strode over to her, grabbing both the handle and her wrist, yanking the sword from her.

“Grillby!” she whined. Why was he so mad all of a sudden!

“This is not a toy. I never want to see you touch it, _not ever_. Do you understand?” He was nearly growling.

“Let go of me!”

“ _Do you understand?_ ”

Fuku whimpered and nodded. Grillby finally let go of her.

“Meanie!” she cried as she ran past Grillby and out of the room.

Fuku hid. She crawled inside the hallway closet, and curled into a ball and seethed. Why had Grillby been so angry! Why had he been so mean, he’d grabbed her! She had just wanted to look!

“…Fuku?” sounded Grillby’s voice from the hallway. Much softer now, not yelling any more.

“Fuku, where are you?”

She could hear steps getting closer. She pushed the closet door open, just a crack to peek out.

Grillby was standing in the hallway. He didn’t look angry. His flame had sunk into low reds. He turned towards her, and she quickly pulled the closet door shut. But apparently Grillby had seen her, she heard him come close, and then he opened the closet.

“Hi”, Grillby said.

Fuku looked away and pouted.

Grillby sat on the floor, in front of the closet.

“I’m sorry that I yelled at you”, he said quietly.

She didn’t say anything.

“I shouldn’t have. And I shouldn’t have grabbed you either. But seeing you with my sword made me very upset.”

“I just wanted to look”, Fuku muttered.

“A sword is not a toy, Fuku. It’s a weapon. You could have hurt yourself.”

“I wouldn’t have!”

Grillby shook his head. “Weapons aren’t for children to touch. Seeing you with my sword was very, very upsetting to me. And I don’t want to see you touch it ever again, I stand by that.”

Grillby looked at the floor.

“But I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m sorry.”

Fuku thought about what Grillby had said. He did sound really sorry.

He did look sorry too.

“Okay”, she said quietly.

Grillby smiled.

“You can stay in the closet for a bit longer, if you want”, he said, standing up. “But it’s going to be your bedtime soon.”

 

One of her favourite things, Fuku had decided, were bedtime stories.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to read you something else for a change?” Grillby asked, with just the slightest edge of desperation.

“No!”

Grillby sighed, bringing a red book from the pile and settling on the bed next to Fuku.

Grillby held the book so that she could see the pictures, and began to read.

“Here’s little Moomintroll, none other, / hurrying home with milk for mother. / Quick, Moomintroll, it’s nearly night. / Run home while there’s a bit of light.”

This book was really cool, Fuku thought. The pages had holes in them, so that she could already see a bit of the picture of the next page. All the illustrations were done so that the picture of the next spread fit with the previous one! Even the front and back covers had holes in them!

Like every night, Moomintroll, Mymble and Little My found their way home to Moominmamma, only for the milk to curdle and get stuck in the milk churn.

“She said ‘Now, in the future, we’ll / drink strawberry juice at every meal!!!’” Grillby read as Fuku looked at the picture of Moomintroll next to Moominmamma.

“Grillby?” Fuku asked as Grillby closed the book.

“Yes?”

“Moomintroll is like his mommy.”

“Yes, he is.”

“And Sans and Papyrus are like their daddy.”

“Children often look a lot like their parents.”

“And I’m like you.”

Grillby froze.

“Fuku…”

“Are you my daddy?”

Grillby’s flame flickered through many colours, pink, light blue, green, until it settled into a low red.

“Sorry, Fuku”, he said, gently petting her head. “But it takes a lot more to be someone’s father than just being like them.”

Grillby glanced at her from the door as he left.

“Goodnight, Fuku”, he said quietly.

“‘Night”, she answered, and Grillby turned the lights off.

 

_The stench of the battlefield was almost overwhelming. The smell filled him with every breath: the scent of smoke and steel, of sweat and blood and dust. The sounds of screams and the clang of metal rang in his head._

_“Oi, Winterflame!”_

_The voice was bubbly, cheerful, and so unfitting to all the death around them. And there she was, entirely see-through, her water contently shifting and twirling inside of her as it flowed through her body._

_“How come you didn’t spar with me! You promised, you naughty lad!”_

I couldn’t spar with you. You died _, he tried to answer. But not a single sound came out, every syllable stuck in his throat._

_Summerwater threw her head back and laughed._

_“I’m just messing with ya! I bet you’ve had your hands full training this little whelp”, she said cheerfully, nodding somewhere behind him._

_He turned, and at first he thought it was Springblaze._

_But it wasn’t._

_Fuku was marching towards him, in tiny gauntlets and pauldrons, her helmet so big she barely could see from beneath the rim. She was dragging behind her a sword, his sword, the weapon bigger than herself, so heavy she couldn’t even lift it, the tip of the blade drawing a path in the dirt after her._

_“Well aren’t you a cutie! Ready for your first battle, Autumnfire?” Summerwater asked with a bright smile._

_“Yeah!”_

_“Ready to kill some mages!?”_

_“Yeah!”_

No! She can’t! She’s just a child!  _He tried to scream, but he couldn’t._

_Fuku turned to look at him nonetheless._

_“But this is the point of us, Winterflame”, she said calmly. “We fight so that they don’t have to. We die so that they don’t have to.”_

_“Good answer, Autumnfire!” Summerwater cheered._

_“C’mon, let’s go already!” Summerwater brandished her spear and ran into the fray._

_Fuku marched obediently after her, dragging the sword through the dust._

He startled awake, gasping for air, the room illuminated with distressed flickers as his flame sputtered.

“It’s just a nightmare”, he whispered to the empty room. “It’s just a nightmare. You’re Grillby. This is your bedroom in your house in Snowdin. None of that was real.”

He forced his breathing slow, like Gaster had taught him. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight…

“You’re Grillby.”

Wasn’t he supposed to be over this already!? Why were the nightmares returning now!?

Grillby picked up his phone, turning the device round in his hands as he thought about calling Gaster. He knew the other would answer, no questions asked. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand, and put his phone away with a sigh.

Grillby rolled to the edge of the bed and stood up. He needed to move, shake the nightmare off his limbs. He quietly walked through the house.

He stopped in the living room. In the middle of the room was the bed, and in the middle of the bed was Fuku.

Fuku was fine. Nothing bad was going to happen to her. There she was, sleeping safe and sound. She was cuddling Dora, and her blanked had pooled around her waist.

Grillby went to the bed and tucked Fuku in properly.

Then he sighed, and left the room. He should try to get some more sleep himself.

 

 

 

Fuku was rushing up the snow-covered hillside.

“Grillby! Come on!” she demanded cheerfully.

Grillby was walking after her, a glider in his hand.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

They reached the top of the hill.

“Okay, sit on the glider, like that”, Grillby instructed. “Hold on to the handle. Remember, dig your feet in the snow if you need to slow down.”

“Can I go already?” Fuku asked, the path in front of her clear.

Grillby chuckled.

“Okay, okay, you’ll figure it out. I’ll give you a little push, okay? One, two, three!”

And Fuku was screaming with delight as she slid down the hillside. The wind rushed around her, and she bounced at the little bumps in the snow.

The hill ended, the glider slowed down, and she stopped, her screaming turning into a fit of giggles.

“Again! Again!” she shouted, stomping her feet into the snow.

“You’re going to have to climb back up here then!” Grillby shouted back to her.

Fuku grabbed the glider and ran back up the hillside.

“Again!”

“Okay, just-”

A melodic beeping sounded from Grillby’s pocket. His phone was ringing.

Grillby’s flame sparked in surprise as he dug the devise out.

“It’s Asgore. So soon again..?”

Grillby answered the call.

“Hello, Grillby speaking.”

“Oh, we’ve been doing just fine, as usual.”

“You… you did? That’s…”

Grillby looked at Fuku. Fuku looked back at him.

“That’s great news.”

“Yes, tomorrow is good. At what time did you say? Yeah, got it. Okay. Thanks. Bye.”

Grillby ended the call.

“What did he want?” Fuku asked.

Grillby pocketed the phone. His colour was oddly muted.

“Asgore found-” he shook his head. “We… we’re going to have visitors tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes from there.”

 

The next day Fuku was wearing one of her pretty dresses. Grillby didn’t seem to be able to sit down. He was pacing from room to room, adjusting the couch cushions again and again, checking that the tea was ready, asking if Fuku needed anything.

She didn’t, but she would have liked for Grillby to just calm down already.

The doorbell rang.

Fuku looked from the doorway to the hall as Grillby let the new people in.

“Hello! You must be Grillby”, one of them said. She was a big black lizard, yellow spots along her body.

“Nice to meet you”, Grillby said quietly as they shook hands.

The other one was a big, slender bird, their feathers red and orange and gold, and they were very pretty.

Fuku went back to the living room, sat on the couch, and pulled Dora on her lap. She felt nervous.

“Oh, there she is”, the bird said as they entered the living room, the lizard close behind them.

They came to her, and crouched so that they were on eye level with her.

“Hello, Fuku”, they said in a friendly voice. “I’m Feni, and this is my wife Atra.”

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you, Fuku”, Atra said.

“Hi”, Fuku said quietly, hugging Dora close.

“Is that your dolphin?” Atra asked.

Fuku nodded.

“Does it have a name?”

“…Dora.”

Fuku didn’t like this. Both of the strange adults were completely focused on her. She wanted to hide. But Grillby had said that she should be nice.

Grillby cleared his throat. He was standing in the doorway.

“Would you like some tea? I’ve got some cookies too”, he said.

“Tea sounds delightful”, Feni said.

As they went to the kitchen Fuku heard Grillby say to the others in quiet tones: “She’s shy around new people. Just give her some time.”

 

“And this is me and Grillby drinking strawberry juice! And this is me and Sans and Papyrus playing in the snow! Snow can hurt, but it’s fun to play in if you’re careful!” Fuku explained as she showed Feni and Atra the pictures she had drawn.

Feni and Atra were nice, she’d decided.

They had talked over tea (Fuku had juice because tea tastes bad!), and they had asked her a lot of questions. About books she liked, and what she liked to play, all sorts of things. Grillby had been mostly quiet, sometimes helping her with her answers, but otherwise just listening to the conversation.

And Feni and Atra were nice! They had played with her! And now they were in the living room, and Fuku was showing them her drawings!

“This is Gaster and Grillby, sitting in a tree, practicing letters!” She held up that paper. “Papyrus said it was a funny rhyme, but I didn’t get it at all!”

Astra giggled.

“And this is me swimming in the ocean with real dolphins and Dora!” Fuku looked at the picture. “Grillby said that I couldn’t, but he also said that I can draw anything, so I drew this.”

“Yes, water can be quite the problem”, Feni said. “But if you had a sturdy diving suit, you could swim in the ocean.”

Fuku gasped.

“Really!?”

“As soon as the Barrier is broken.” Feni smiled.

Grillby cleared his throat. He’d been hovering by the door the whole time, quietly watching the three of them.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s starting to get late.”

“It is?” Atra glanced at the clock. “Oh, time sure flies when you’re having fun!”

Feni glanced at Atra.

“Grillby, could we borrow your kitchen for just a moment? The missus and I need to have a word.”

The pair disappeared into the kitchen.

Grillby sat next to Fuku on the floor, exhaling a deep breath of smoke.

His flame was burning low. Not even a red-orange anymore, a purple-red.

“Are you okay?” Fuku asked.

“Yeah, I’m, I’m fine”, Grillby answered quickly. “Having guests is just tiring.”

That was a little weird, Fuku thought. Grillby didn’t seem tired when Sans and Papyrus and Gaster came over.

Feni and Atra came out of the kitchen, smiling widely to each other.

“Fuku, so, Feni and I talked, and-” Atra fumbled with her words. “Well, we have a present for you!”

She pulled something out of her inventory. It was a small, red suitcase, the kind with wheels you could pull after yourself.

“It’s part of a matching set we have at home. For family vacations”, Feni explained.

Fuku stood up and walked to look the suitcase over. Sure, it was nice, but she’d rather had a book or a toy.

“Thanks”, she said, because Grillby had told her to be nice.

“We could already pack up your things in your suitcase. Convenient, isn’t it?” Feni continued.

“Wait, what?” Grillby asked, abruptly standing up. “You’re taking her with you already?”

“Of course!” Atra said cheerfully. “There’s no reason to dawdle, is there?”

Fuku looked between the adults.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Atra chuckled.

“Home, of course! We’re adopting you!”

“Okay”, Fuku said. She didn’t know what ‘adopting’ meant, but it seemed to make Atra happy. She’d ask Grillby about it later.

“I’ll… I’ll just go gather her things then”, Grillby said quietly. He left the room with hasty steps.

“Feni, isn’t this wonderful!” Atra wiped her eyes. “Gosh, I’m tearing up, I’m so happy!”

 

So Fuku was in the hallway, putting on her boots and mittens all by herself! Because she was a big girl! Feni and Atra were putting their coats on. Only Grillby stood by the doorway, next to Fuku’s suitcase.

“Grillby, hurry up! Everyone else is ready!” Fuku said.

Grillby sparked and flared, just for a flash, and then his flame sunk into a deeper red, purple around the edges. He knelt down, so that he was eye-level with her.

“Fuku, I’m not coming with you.”

“What? Why?”

“You’re going with Feni and Atra. Don’t worry, they’ll take real good care of you.” Grillby was trying to smile, but it didn’t look right at all. He was too purple to be smiling.

“You’ll be good now, won’t you, Fuku?”

Fuku nodded. She’d be good. She was a good girl.

Grillby patted her head.

“Goodbye, little flame”, he said quietly as Fuku stepped out the door.

“Bye bye”, Fuku said and waved.

The door clicked shut after them. Atra asked to hold her hand as they walked to the river. There was the boat, and the same mysterious ferryman.

“Tra la la”, they sang again as the three of them boarded the boat. “If you have two choices, you really have four.”

The boat began moving, Snowdin disappearing behind them.

Feni was careful to keep her in the middle of the boat, like Grillby had when they first came to Snowdin.

“Oh, you’re going to love your new room!” Atra still sounded so excited. “You’re going to have a real bed too, not just the couch! Isn’t that nice!”

“Grillby’s couch turns into a bed if you open it right”, Fuku said. “He got it so that Sans and Papyrus could stay overnight with Gaster.”

“It’s so nice that you already made friends”, Atra said. “You’ll make many more in your new kindergarten, I’m sure!”

Fuku looked back in the direction of Snowdin.

“Why didn’t Grillby come with us?” she asked.

“Fuku, Grillby needed to stay in his home”, Feni said.

Fuku didn’t like this. Grillby had been upset when they left. She wanted to know why Grillby had been upset.

“When are we going back?” Fuku asked.

“Ah, Fuku, sweetie. We’re not going back to Snowdin.”

What?

Fuku turned to stare at Atra with wide eyes. _What?_

“But I have to go home! What about Grillby?” She didn’t like this, she didn’t like this at all!

“Your home is with us, sweetie. We’re your parents now.” Atra sounded so calm, so happy as she smiled at her.

No. No no no no _no!_

“No!” Fuku cried. “I wanna go home! I want Grillby!”

She stood up on the boat, and Feni was grabbing onto her, “Careful! The water-!” they said, but she didn’t listen, didn’t want to hear, they were _grabbing her_ and _shouting at her_ and she wanted home! She screamed and cried and wailed, she burned, and when she saw a ledge by the river, she leaped, and she _ran._

 

 

Grillby was cleaning up the house. The teacups and empty cookie tray were in the dishwasher. The floors were swept. He had changed the sheets on the sofa-bed, so that it would be ready for the next time Gaster and the boys would stay over.

Fuku hadn’t taken her drawings with her. He didn’t really know what to do with them. Crayon drawings weren’t something you kept, were they? But he just couldn’t find it in himself to just toss them in the trash, either.

So, he collected the toys Fuku had sown around the house, and packed them in Gaster’s bag. Good that Gaster had borrowed them. Now the only toy Fuku had to carry with her was Dora. And Feni and Atra would get her a bunch of new ones, anyway. Maybe Fuku would even discard the dolphin in favour of a new teddy bear.

Like the toys, Grillby packed the children’s books. They should be put on the bottom of the bag so that they wouldn’t weigh on the toys.

His hands stopped. He was holding a red book with a hole on the cover.

“Here’s little Moomintroll, none other”, he muttered to himself. He could probably recite the book from memory by now.

Something drove him to open the book and leaf through the pages, one by one. He wondered why Fuku had liked it so much. He stared down the last page. It had a picture of Mymble and Little My, sitting next to large glasses of strawberry juice.

“This hole – the very last you see / They can’t get through - it’s much too wee. / ‘We’ll stay here in this book, and why? / ’Cause we’re too big!!!’ said Little My”, Grillby whispered to the empty room.

Maybe he could ask if Gaster really wanted this one back. Maybe he could keep it-

_No._

He closed the book with a snap, and crammed it in at the bottom of the bag. He shoved all the toys inside, and zipped it shut. He’d text Gaster about when he could visit and drop the bag off, with _everything_ he had borrowed inside. He _did not_ need some memento of a child who was better off with someone else-!

His phone began to beep melodically. He frowned as he noticed who was calling.

“Hello? Grillby speaking”, he said as he answered the call.

What he didn’t expect was incoherent, teary babbling.

“Woah, Atra, slow down.” Grillby felt something nauseating in his stomach. “Did something happen?” _Of course something had happened-!_

“Fuku-! She-!” Atra gave a choked sob. “She ran away! She’s somewhere in Waterfall!”

 

 

Fuku kept walking.

Her feet hurt.

She was tired.

She was hungry.

She was scared.

The caverns were scary. Too big and all strange and there was water _everywhere_. Water flowing down the walls. Water dripping from the ceiling. Water under rickety wooden bridges. Awful, scary, painful water everywhere.

But she needed to go home.

If only she knew where home was.

…She heard something.

Music, very different from what the jukebox at the bar played. She followed the sound, maybe there would be someone who could help her.

Fuku entered a new cave.

And there was someone there, sitting on a large rock by the edge of the water. She looked really pretty, but also really scary. Her body was see-through, and in constant movement as water slowly flowed and shifted inside of her. Fuku recognized her instrument now, she was playing a violin, her eyes closed, and the music filled the cavern.

She was like her.

But also she really, _really_ wasn’t.

She opened her eyes, saw Fuku, and her bow slipped, wringing a foul note from her violin.

“Springblaze-!?” she gasped, shocked ripples going through her. “Wait, no- No, what? _What!?_ ”

“I’m lost.” Fuku held her arms in front of herself, close to her body. She wished she had Dora to hold.

“Who- who are you? How’d you get here?” the water lady asked, still perplexed, carefully putting her violin aside.

“I’m lost”, Fuku repeated, more insistently. She felt a lump in her throat, she hiccupped, and began to cry. She was all alone and lost and the water lady was scary!

“I wanna go home!” she wailed.

Then the water lady was in front of her, reaching for her, then pulling away quickly.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’ll help you, little flame. Calm down…” she said, wringing her hands helplessly.

“You’ll help me?” Fuku asked through the tears.

“Of course! Did you come here with someone? Uh, your parents? Just stop crying, I’ll help you find them, I promise. Where did you last see them?”

Her parents?

Fuku hiccupped again. Atra had said that her and Feni were her parents.

“No!” she cried out. She didn’t want to go to Atra and Feni, they were the ones who had stolen her away! “I wanna go home!”

The water lady was scary and was trying to make her go to Atra and Feni, she didn’t want to, she didn’t want to!

Fuku ran past her, running further into the caverns as fast as she could, ignoring the shouts after her.

 

Grillby was trekking through the cavern as fast as he could, umbrella firmly in his hand. The guard had been alerted, and Atra and Feni were looking by the dock Fuku had jumped off on. Grillby hated Waterfall, but like _hell_ he would just stay at home doing nothing if Fuku was in danger.

He came to the edge of the small waterfall that cut off the path. He took a deep sigh. His rubber boots were as sturdy as you could get in the Underground. He slowly stepped in the water.

The mud squelched, he could feel it, like it was trying to suckle on the rubber. Grillby was careful to pull his boots out of the mud slowly, making sure he wouldn’t lose his balance. He walked through the small creek, one step at a time, doing his best to ignore the feel of the cold current against his feet.

Once he finally stepped out of the water, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. That would probably never get any less unnerving.

He was just about to continue along the path when his phone rang.

He answered it quickly, without even bothering to check who it was.

“Grillby speaking.”

The voice that sounded from the speaker was the last he’d been expecting.

“I just saw a kid that looked like a mini Springblaze- Stars, Grillby, there’s a kid, a  _kid_ elemental running around-! Grillby, do you know about this-!?!”

“Fuku”, Grillby breathed out. “Nixie- Nixie, you need to calm down. Where did you see her?”

“You- you knew there was a kid elemental-?!” Nixie’s voice was shrill with outrage. “ _Why didn’t anyone tell me there was a kid elemental-?!_ ”

“Nixie, please. I’ll explain everything as soon as I can, I promise”, Grillby interrupted her. “But I need to find Fuku before she falls off a bridge.”

“She bumped into my practice place, I’m trying to follow her right now, but the kid is _fast_ \- Oh, _fuck_.”

“What is it?”

“A fork in the road, I don’t know which way she went.” Nixie made a frustrated sound. “Where are you? Snowdin?”

“Waterfall, pretty close to the Snowdin entrance. I just passed the first creek.” Grillby picked up his pace.

“Okay. Go towards the wishing room, I’ll look by the dump. She’s got to get cut off by the water at some point.”

 

She was scared. She was scared and tired and the caves were too big.

She couldn’t run anymore, not another step.

So she had found a dry little nook, just a corner in the cave, and curled up there. There were some reeds there, shielding the nook from sight. It was a bad hiding place, but it made her feel safer than sitting out in the open.

Fuku wondered how long she had been walking. The caves were so dark. Snowdin was dark at night, and lit during the day. But the caves were all dark, no lamps, not a single one. There had been some shiny crystals at points, but here, the only light was her own flame, flickering green against the dark walls, and the ceiling. But where her light ended, there was only darkness…

Darkness, and a soft, orange glow, slowly growing stronger, accompanied with the sound of steps.

Fuku knew that orange.

“Grillby?” she whimpered into the room.

The light in the distance flared yellows.

“Fuku?” And Grillby’s voice was loud and steady, and Fuku scrambled up, pushed through the reeds, and there was Grillby, in black rubber boots and a pale red umbrella in hand, an umbrella which he dropped as he came running to her, picked her up and hugged her tight!

“Fuku, by the stars-! I was so worried, are you okay, are you hurt-? Stars-” And Grillby was checking her, not putting her down.

“I’m okay”, Fuku said, her voice quivering.

“Thank the _stars_ I found you before anything happened.” Grillby hugged her tight again. “Why on earth did you jump off the boat like that, we’ve all been worried sick!”

“It was Feni and Atra!” she blubbered. “They tried to steal me away! They said- They said that I couldn’t come home anymore, that I had to go with them!”

Grillby froze.

“Fuku”, he began slowly. “Feni and Atra weren’t kidnapping you, they were adopting you. You were supposed to go with them.”

“What…?” Fuku shook her head. “No! My home is with you-”

And Grillby looked at her, and she knew he was dead serious. He had known Feni and Atra were taking her away forever, and he had done nothing to stop it.

“No!” she cried. “Home is in Snowdin! I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, don’t make me-!”

She screamed and wailed and kicked and _burned_. But Grillby only held her tighter, silent as she charred his shirt and battered his chest with her tiny fists. All the way until she got too tired to fight, too tired to cry, too tired to do more than sob into Grillby’s shirt.

Only then did Grillby move. He walked over to a dry spot of the wall, and sat down on the cavern floor, settling her on his lap, his arms still around her to hold her close.

“Why don’t you want me anymore”, Fuku whimpered. “Was I bad?”

“No, Fuku. It’s nothing that you did.”

Grillby’s voice was quiet. Distant.

“Fuku. There is a story I need to tell you. But it isn’t a very fun story. Actually, it’s not fun at all.” Grillby was looking somewhere far away, further even than the cave walls, it felt like. “I was going to wait until you were older, but I think that you need to hear it now.”

Fuku listened.

“So, once upon a time, two races lived together on the Surface: humans, and monsters. One day, war broke out between the two. Humans, they are much stronger than monsters. Battle after battle, monsters kept getting hurt, getting… killed. So it was decided that elementals would be summoned, to fight for the monsters.”

Grillby paused.

“That’s how I came to be. I was summoned to fight in place of those who couldn’t, to protect the innocent, the weak, to save people. That was my purpose, it was the purpose of all of us. To fight. They weren’t very nice to us back then, we weren’t allowed to make much of our own decisions...  I guess it’s just easier to send people to the most dangerous places when you think of them as something lesser. There were a lot more people like you and me back then. But when all you ever do is fight, you end up getting hurt. A lot of us died. And some of them were dear to me.”

Grillby held Fuku a little tighter.

“I sometimes think, some of it… That it’s my fault. If I had been stronger, been faster, fought harder… then maybe some of them would still be here. And sometimes I think that _I_ shouldn’t be here. Summerwater was cheerful, Springblaze was brilliant, Winterwind was kind… What right do I have to survive when they didn’t?”

“Is that why you have a sword?” Fuku asked quietly. “Because you had to fight?”

“Yes. And that’s why I was so upset when I saw you with it. It made me remember everyone who had to fight, who I failed, and who got killed for it.”

Grillby looked down at Fuku, bringing a hand to her face and softly caressing her cheek.

“It’s hard to look at you and not think back to the war, what happened, how we were treated… Everyone I lost. And it’s not fair to you.”

Grillby sighed.

“It’s not fair to you to see you as bits and pieces of people who are long gone, to treat you like I’m fixing a wrong from the past. And that’s why you can’t stay with me. Feni and Atra, they see you as Fuku, nothing more, nothing less. Just a little girl that needs to be loved and cared for. And I can’t see you like that, not ever.”

Grillby turned his face away from her.

“And I’m sorry for that, I really am. I’m sorry I can’t separate you and the war, but I… _I can’t._ I care about you so, so much, Fuku. And I _do_ want you to stay with me. But I want what’s best for you more.”

Fuku thought about what Grillby had said.

She didn’t know much about hurt. She knew what it was like to fall on her face and bump her head, how it prickled and ached. She knew what it was like when Grillby was upset with her, how it churned and stung inside her. But she knew that all that hurt, it was different to what she could hear in Grillby’s voice. A hurt that could not be kissed better, a bad dream that would not go away with another bedtime story.

Fuku didn’t want Grillby to hurt.

“If… If I go to live with Feni and Atra, will I ever see you again?” she asked hesitantly, resting her head on Grillby’s shoulder.

Grillby gave a sort of choked sounding chuckle.

“Of course you will, Fuku. Just because you live there, doesn’t mean that I can’t visit you. And-” Grillby looked at her warmly. “If it turns out that you don’t like living with them, you can come live with me again, until we find someone else for you to live with.”

“Promise?”

“I promise”, Grillby said firmly.

He then stood up, Fuku still in his arms.

“Now, we’ll get out of Waterfall, and tell everyone that you’re safe.”

 

 

 

“Tra la la. Did you ever hear the old song coming from the sea?” the River Person sang as the boat flew over the water.

“Is it about dolphins?” Fuku asked, excited. “I have a dolphin, her name is Dora!”

“Tra la la. Why don't you sing with me. Tra la la.”

“Tra la la”, Fuku sang. “Mommy, sing with us!”

Mom chuckled. “Maybe another time, sweetie.”

The boat arrived to the Snowdin dock. Grillby was already waiting for them there!

“Grillby!” Fuku exclaimed, waving from the boat.

“Careful”, mom warned, gripping her arm to make sure she didn’t fall in the water.

As soon as her feet touched the snowy ground she ran into Grillby’s arms!

“Grillbyyy!”

Grillby caught her as she jumped, hugging her tight.

“Hello there, little flame”, he said affectionately, then settled her back on the ground. “Hi, Atra.”

“Hello, Grillby”, Mom answered.

“Grillby, let’s go, let’s go!” Fuku demanded, yanking Grillby’s sleeve.

“Now, now, Fuku, what’s the hurry? I’ve barely had the time to say Atra hello.”

Mom chuckled.

“Fuku has a surprise for you”, she said “But wait until you get home, okay sweetie?”

“Shhhh!” Fuku shushed, raising a finger to her mouth.

“Besides, I need to get back to Hotland right away. The spousy has made _plans_ ”, mom said in a singsong voice.

“Sounds like a romantic evening.” Grillby grinned. “Well, don’t let us keep you then.”

Mom got back on the boat.

“Bye mommy!” Fuku called, waving as the boat left. Grillby waved too.

He then turned towards the path that led to the town, Fuku at his heels.

“Carry me!” Fuku demanded, reaching her hands up.

“You’re a big girl Fuku, you can walk.” Grillby smiled. “But we can hold hands if you want.”

And they did, Fuku wrapping her little fingers around Grillby’s thumb.

“I made a new friend in kindergarten today!” Fuku began as they walked.

“That’s great! What’s their name?”

“Skatie!” she exclaimed. “She’s super cool and purple and she has a kick bike and she let me ride it and we’re gonna get married!”

“Oh? Did one of you propose already?” Grillby asked.

“No, she doesn’t know it yet”, Fuku said, smiling, very satisfied with herself.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re thinking about your long-term relationships, I think that’s great at your age”, Grillby said conversationally.

 

Every other weekend, that was what the adults had decided in the end.

Even if at first everything was strange and a little scary, Fuku had decided that she liked Hotland, and her new kindergarten and her new house. And when Feni and Atra had asked if she wanted them to be her ren and mom, she had said yes!

But even if she liked her new home, and even if she liked her new parents, it didn’t mean that she didn’t miss Grillby. Mom was soft and sweet, and ren was cool and funny, but they weren’t _Grillby_.

And Grillby missed her too, it turned out. He called a lot in the beginning, and came to visit, too.

“Why do you have to go?” Fuku had pleaded one time when Grillby was about to leave.

“I need to get back home”, Grillby had said patiently, but Fuku had seen how sad his flame looked.

“It’s stupid! Why can’t I have both my mommy and my renny _and_ my Grillby!” She had stomped her feet.

“Fuku…”

“…she sort of has a point”, ren had said, making both of the other adults turn to look at them.

So, eventually, after lots and lots of talking, things had been decided. ‘Shared guardianship’ was the big important adult word. Fuku spent every week in Hotland, and every other weekend too. But every _other_ other weekend was spent in Snowdin, with Grillby!

 

When they got home, Grillby went to the kitchen to get dinner ready (Good! She was hungry, and Grillby’s cooking was the best!) and Fuku scuttled to put her backpack by the couch. She didn’t need to pack much; she had her own drawer of clothes and things in her Snowdin home. But Dora she had to carry with her, as well as her super secret surprise!

“Grillby Grillby Grillby!” she called as she scampered into the kitchen, the gift hidden behind her back.

“What is it?” Grillby asked, taking a pack of rice out of the cupboard and placing it on the table.

“For you!” Fuku presented her gift: a flowerpot she had decorated (almost) all by herself!

Grillby took the flowerpot, and turned it around in his hands. Fuku had painted yellow squiggly lines on the sides, and blotted big colourful dots in the empty spaces. She had also added pink glitter. And on one side, written with big, wobbly letters, the pot read DUNCLE.

“Fuku, it’s beautiful”, Grillby marvelled. “Did you ask a teacher to help with the text?”

Fuku nodded. “Uh-huh!”

“Too bad about the misspelling… Thank you, Fuku, it’s very pretty. I’ll be sure to plant something in this soon.”

“No misspelling!” Fuku claimed firmly.

Grillby chuckled. “So certain for someone who can’t read yet”, he mumbled to himself, amused yellows in his flame.

Grillby put the pot on the window still.

“Do you want to help me cook?”

“Uh-huh!” Fuku nodded vigorously. “What are we making?”

“Chili sin carne. Could you get me an onion from the fridge?”

Fuku hurried to the fridge, bringing a stepladder with her so that she could reach high enough. The fridge door was covered in her crayon drawings. There was her with mom and ren, her playing with Sans and Papyrus, one with Grillby and Gaster... And front and centre, one of her and Grillby drinking big glasses of strawberry juice.

Fuku found an onion and brought it to Grillby.

“Thank you”, Grillby said. Then he stopped, and smiled at her.

“What?” Fuku asked.

“Nothing.” Grillby ran his hand through the fire on top of her head. “Just glad to have you here, little flame.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you might recognise Summerwater from Drabble Pile, I'm stoked that I got some extra mileage from her!
> 
> Feni and Atra are a phoenix and a fire salamander, respectfully. They story is that they really wanted a kid, but the egg broke, which was traumatising enough that they didn't dare try again. So when they got word that a kiddo was up for adoption, they jumped at the chance.
> 
> Nixie is based on a water spirit of folklore called the neck. Her name is based in the german version, and the violin is a reference to the scandinavian version.
> 
> The book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My is an actual book by Tove Jansson, aptly enough titled "The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My". It's one of my old faves from when I was a kiddo myself ^^  
> My headcanon is that Moomin books would go over well in the Underground, since the characters are non-human, good-natured critters.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading! This was my first time writing Grillby in a more dad-like role, so feedback would be much appreciated! ^^
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: [Oooh look a fanart!](https://anchestor.tumblr.com/post/180473648203/gift-for-you-i-really-liked-your-hearth-and-home)


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